IN MEMORIAM - HARRY HUGHES

Service of thanksgiving at St Anta and All Saints Church, Carbis Bay for the astonishing life (see obituary below) of an adored and revered man who lived out his later years in St Ives. As the hearse prepared to leave for Longstone Cemetery an RAF helicopter passed by. Standard Bearers and representatives of the Royal Air Force, Royal British Legion RAF Association and NCI provided a guard of honour for the service which was also attended by the Deputy Mayor of St Ives, Councillor Kenny Messenger.

(The clip of Harry laying a wreath at the St Ives War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday 2014 is extracted from a video listing the 221 known St Ives men and women who have lost their lives in global conflict).

Obituary in the Daily Telegraph, 29 August 2023 with additional detail from the St Ives Times and Echo, 11 August 2023 :

Flight Lieutenant HARRY HUGHES flew 76 operations as a navigator in Bomber Command, including 50 with the Pathfinder Force. When he joined 102 Squadron at Pocklington, Yorkshire in early March 1943 the RAF’s strategic bombing campaign was gathering momentum and the Battle of the Ruhr was about to commence. Instead of flying on a mining operation, the traditional first operation for a new crew, he and colleagues joined 442 other bombers to attack the Krupp factory at Essen.

Over the next 7 months, Hughes and colleagues took their Halifax bomber to 25 other heavily defended targets. In addition to attacks against targets in the Ruhr he visited Nuremberg, Munich and the Skoda armaments factory in Pilsen, a sortie of 10 hours.

On a raid to Mülheim, his Halifax returned on 2 engines. Over Stettin on 20 April he was hit by anti-aircraft fire and the controls damaged, but the aircraft was recovered safely.

On 24 July Bomber Command sent 791 bombers to Hamburg, including Hughes and his crew. Using “window” for the first time (metal foil strips to confuse the enemy radar system) the raid caused extensive damage. Over the next 10 days, Hughes flew 2 more attacks that devastated the city. On seeing the firestorm develop he recalled how he felt sorry “for the people down there, and I said a little prayer for them”.

What became known as the Battle of Berlin began on 23 August, the first of many sorties Harry would make to the “Big City”. After successfully bombing the target, one of his 4 engines on the Halifax failed so the long flight to base was made on the remaining 3. On 22 September he bombed Hanover, the final operation of his tour. Soon he was awarded the DFM and was commissioned.

William Henry 'Harry' Hughes was born in Dorset on 10 August 1922, the only son of William and Luisa Hughes and educated at Sherborne Grammar School. Too young to enlist, he joined the Home Guard before attempting to join the Royal Navy. Although good at maths, Harry felt that his concentration was not in the job and he may have failed the examination. On his way home he stopped at Salisbury, where the RAF were recruiting and immediately enlisted as aircrew.

Harry trained as a navigator in Canada and then at Pensacola, Florida under the US/UK bi-lateral “Towers” scheme. After returning to England in September 1942 he trained on bombers before joining 102 Squadron. On completing his tour of operations, he became a navigation instructor at a bomber training unit. In July 1944 he volunteered to join the Bomber Command’s Pathfinder Force and he began converting to the twin-engine Mosquito. In August he joined 692 Squadron at Graveley in Cambridgeshire, part of the Light Night Striking Force (LNSF). The main task of the Mosquitos was to accompany the main bomber force and drop “window” before the attack to confuse the enemy air defence radars. They then headed for a different target on a “siren tour”, when they ranged far and wide over the Reich to drop a 500 lb bomb on each of three or four targets.

When they appeared over a town, the sirens were sounded, hence the appellation. Although the bomb did little damage, man-hours were lost in factories, the townspeople lost sleep and the ground defences were kept on the alert. Among other tasks were “spoof raids” - when the main force was attacking a major target, the fast high-flying Mosquitos would head for other major cities to draw away the enemy night-fighter force.

On New Year’s Day 1945, Hughes flew on a tunnel-busting operation against vital German lines of supply to the Ardennes offensive. The attacks were made at 250 feet or less and in such a way the 4,000 lb bombs, with a short-delay fuse, were thrown into the mouths of the tunnels, where they exploded. Two days later, he flew on a “bridge bashing” sortie in the area before the squadron returned to its more familiar operations.

During his tour of operations, Hughes attacked Berlin no less than 10 times, the last occasion on 5 February. On the 14th, he flew a “siren tour” raid to Frankfurt, his 50th operation with the LNSF.

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He was awarded the DFC, the recommendation stating: “Since the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal this officer has completed many further operational sorties against strongly defended enemy targets. At all times he has shown himself to be a skilful and accurate navigator. His courage, determination and devotion to duty have always been noteworthy.”

After the war, Hughes flew Mosquitoes to Burma, where he later joined 52 Squadron at Calcutta flying Dakotas on re-supply routes in support of the campaign in Burma. Among the passengers he carried were the Supreme Commander, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, and the future Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

In 1947 Hughes was recalled to the RAF Volunteer Reserve and did not relinquish his commission until 1963. He was awarded the Air Efficiency Award with Clasp.

After being released from the RAF, Hughes trained as a shipbroker and became the managing director of the Ocean MacGregor group, running the London office. He sold a large number of ships, which involved worldwide travel. In 1983 he retired to St Ives in Cornwall, where he became an active member of the National Coast Watch Institution and a busy fundraiser for the organisation’s radar network. He was a strong supporter of the Pathfinder Association and the 102 Squadron Association, attending many reunions.

Harry married Cynthia in 1953 and retired in 1983, moving to his beloved St Ives with his beloved wife. Sadly in around 1994 when Cynthia was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Harry fought perhaps his bravest battle, keeping her at home to live her remaining years with dignity, which he won hands down. Cynthia passed away in 1998. Harry was an active member of the National Coast Watch Institution in St Ives and became their fundraiser, raising thousands of pounds using his influence in the shipping fraternity. Just 15 days short of his 101st birthday, he passed away peacefully
on 25 July 2023. 

In a book written by Steve Darlow, Harry reflected on how many bombings he was part of - ‘What, if I get to the gates of Heaven, will St Peter say to me?’ He now knows for sure but we always knew the answer to that one. He leaves 4 sons, 5 grandsons and 2 great grandsons.